Crior, a Crusader of the Zamarorn faith heard of an evil power growing in Westmire. He needed to purge this evil from the land. As he climbed a cliff, he thought of this. No matter what challenge came along his way, nothing would stop him. He reached the top of the cliff and stood up. He looked out above the land. There to the west was Westmire, in flames. Smoke rose hundreds of feet into the dark sky. He knelt down to the ground with his Holy hammer in front of him and said a silent prayer to those already lost in the destruction. He got back up and took his hammer and headed toward the burning city. Roughly an hour later he arrived to the shattered gates. He ran in looking for those in need. As he roamed the streets he realized that he saw no bodies in the streets. No blood. No clothing or anything of the sorts. He didn't even hear screaming. Something felt wrong. He continued deeper into the city, heading towards the the center. Homes and shops burning as he went. Once he reached the center, he looked around. Most of the entry points had been closed off due to fallen debris and houses blocking the roads. He had an uneasy feeling about this. He walked toward the centee where there was a small water fountain. He dipped his hands in the get some water, and raised his hands up about to drink until he looked at it. The water wasnot water. It was blood. The fountain and started flowing out crimson blood. The ground started to shake. He readied his hammer waiting. The fountain started to crack then exploded. Blood splattered everywhere. He shielded his face as it fell on him. He looked at the small crater it had left. Smoke covered it, but he could see a figure moving within it. Could this be civilians who survived? He looked closer and saw only one figure. He stepped out of the smoke as a metal foot touched the stone cobbled road. A hooded figure clad in black stepped out. Crior could not see his face. The figure stood a little over six feet tall. The figure said nothing. A black cloak covered his black armor that he was wearing. "Who are you?" Said Crior. The figure stared at him. And with a dark, menacing voice that seemed to echo, the figure said "I am... Death" Death had come to Westmire. Crior readied his hammer, "And I am a Crusader, here to rid the land of this evil. And so Death, you shall be no more." He kneeled with his hammer as a symbol appeared on the ground. A bolt of lightning struck Crior taking him to the sky and coming down up Death himself with his hammer. But it did not phase Death. The hammer went straight through him. Death grabbed crior by the armor and picked him until they were face to face. "You cannot kill Death." He said darkly. Crior could feel his life slowly fading away. Death was taking his life. Crior didn't have much time. He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer. His armor started to glow brightly. The light increased as it started blinding Death. But Death held on. Crior took his dagger out from behind him and stabbed Death within his hood. Death let him go as he screamed. Crior took his hammer and swung it at Death, knocking him back towards a burning building. The walls collapsed and the building fell upon him. Crior pulled out a small stone and walked towards the collapsed building. "And now Death, I sentence you to a life of captivity, you shall no longer terrorize this land." He started to chant a spell to encase Death within the stone. Deaths hand reached out from the rubble just as Crior finished. "If I'm banished, so are you." Said Death in a cold voice. Crior tried to escape but couldn't get Deaths grip off of him. And then, they vanished. The stone dropped the ground. Crior and Death were trapped forever within the stone.

At least that's what the books said. It later on said that the stone had been lost and buried into the earth and would never be seen again. This was one Rams favorite stories. He had been told the story for years and read many versions of it. And now two thousand years later, he would come to realize that this story, would become his reality.

Ram got up and put the book back onto the bookshelf of the library in the university. Class was over and he just wanted to spend his time looking into the history books. Ram was a good guy, he was a daredevil of sorts and wasn't afraid to try new things. And usually ended up being really good at them. But no one really knew his dorky history side to him. He didn't want a lot of people knowing and only a few of his closest friends knew about it. He picked up his backpack off the table and left for the parking lot. He threw his bag into his car and got in and drove off to his home. Unknowing that today, his life would change.

Riley saw this guy put a book back on the shelf and walk out of the University Library. She shook her head and looked back down at her notes. Professor Wiggins had assigned a major essay due in two days. Why he thought two days would be enough time she had no clue. She took a sip of her water and looked back at her notebook. "Whelp, it shouldn't be too hard. I'll just pull an allnighter, again."

Ram drove down the street heading home. Ideas and images swimming through his mind about the battle of westmire. Once he got home he put his backpack down on the ground by the door and headed toward his room. He sat down at his desk and logged onto his computer and started doing his research for a test that was coming up in a couple of days. But before that he looked up where Westmire used to be. He knew it was long gone but he was curious. He typed in the question and hit enter. He scrolled through and everything said the same thing. The old Westmire is the new Shady Valley.

Riley sent out a bulk email to her History students. She TA'd on the side. Since it was only the first week of classes she didn't really know what they looked like. She noticed one name that made her giggle. Ram. Short for Ramos maybe? She typed up the email, letting them know about tutoring times, and also telling them to not get upset if she canceled, since she was a student at the University herself.

Rams computer chimed as a email notification popped up. He clicked on it and read it. Ram felt like he should tell someone about this. There could be historic artifacts and other treasures underneath the city that no one knows about. He typed up an email for Riley asking her if she wouldn't mind meeting at the library some time and that he needed to explain some stuff

While Riley was about to close her laptop, she saw a new email pop up. One from Ram. It asked if she could meet him in the library. She typed back

"Dear Mr. Ram,

I'm actually at the library right now if you would like to meet right away. I don't know what type of questions you would have in the first week but I would be happy to meet with you. Bring a list of questions or whatever you might need.

Ram got the reply. He threw on his leather jacket and grabbed his backpack. He got into his car and drove back towards campus. About ten minutes later he got onto campus. He climbed out of his car and raced towards the library. He ran inside looking for Riley. He quick walked through the isles of books until he saw her sitting at a table with books around her. He walked up to her and sat down across from her.

"Please just call me Ram." He said. "I was here earlier looking at a book about the Battle of Westmire. Now this is one of my favorite stories and I did a little digging. And what I found was quite surprising."

She nodded, she had heard this several times before by multiple history students. "I hate to say this, but you are right, but wrong all at once. You see Westmire wasn't actually the name of the town. Westmire was the name of the old Mission. Back before Shady Valley was a city. You could say there was a village of sorts, but it was confined in the walls of the Mission. I can always take you out to the ruins. Its out in the Quarry. Not many people go there because they said it gives them the heebie jeebies. But it is a really interesting place to go and think. I'm working on my Senior Thesis and I'm doing it over the battles here in our little area of New Mexico."

Riley bit the end of her pencil. It had been a few months since she had been out there. "Last time I was out there they had the perimeter cut out. And they had been unearthing some really interesting artifacts. We have a few in our archeology department." She bit her lip, deep in thought. "The Mission was so far destroyed in the aftermath of the battle that you can't really walk the ruins. We've been trying to find ways to clear out everything. We just had that stupid flood 80 years ago and the hot sun baked it, on top of the floods over the past 547 years... So it's a little slow going, ya know?" She laughed at that.

"I understand. But I still want to go. I'm sure two people can find there way through a little bit of the ruins. Look, it's almost dark. I have flashlights and water in my bag. Let's just go check it out" Ram said looking into Rileys eyes

"Sure. My motorcycle wouldn't hold both of us." She got up and tucked her books into her backpack. She noticed her grimore and winced. she hadn't had time to practice any new spells... She really needed to do that soon if she was going to pass the witch's exam in the next few months.

Ram started heading out of the library and into the parking lot. He unlocked his car and put the bag in the back seat and got in. Once Riley got in he left the university and followed Rileys directions to the ruins. About thirty minutes later they arrived. He put his car in park and looked at the entrance.

Ram looked out over the ruins. "Well, let's go take a look see." He said while starting to walk towards them. He followed a small path leading to the ruins. A few short minutes later they were within the ruins. Ram started looking for a way in underground

"What are you recording for?" Ram asked questionably. He found a pair of cellar doors and moved some of the rubble away and opened them. Dust and dirt filled the air. He shined a light down inside and started making his way

"I'm recording so I can transcribe it later. I am doing my Senior thesis over these ruins. Don't you have anything to jot down your findings?" She looked over at him and saw a strange look on his face. "Ram are you okay? You don't look so good."

Riley's eyes grew wide. Holy Crap. She rushed over to him and lowered her ear to his mouth and then chest. His breathing was rapid and so was his heart beat. He was burning up. She pulled out her phone and dialed 911.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2 hours later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She sat next to Ram's hospital bed sketching in her sketch book and replaying what happened in their brief time at the ruins.